Dog saves neighbor after car falls on top of him while he was working on it

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — A Johns Creek man says he owes his life to his neighbor’s dog.

From an upstairs bedroom in her family’s home, Ella Truong could hear all the racket.

“I think he knew something was wrong, because he was standing right down the driveway,” Ella said.

Her boxer mix named Root Beer, “Rudy” for short, was barking up a storm toward Tony Dagnino’s place. Tony was in trouble.

“(It was) like someone jumped on me. But it was a big guy,” Dagnino said.

Dagnino was doing some work under his Mazda when it fell off the jack stands and began to crush him.

“I couldn’t catch a full breath. I was on my side. Had I been laying on my back, I think I wouldn’t be here right now," he said.

Unable to call for help, Dagnino figured he wouldn’t last much longer. But Rudy’s nonstop barking got everybody’s attention.

“I’m just so thankful and grateful that Rudy had that instinct and was out there. He knew something was wrong,” neighbor Emily Truong said.

Dagnino’s wife and kids and a couple of neighbors put their backs into it and lifted the car just enough so he could slide out. He has a broken collarbone and a broken rib, but the doctor in the ER told him had Rudy not been out there, he might have been a goner.

“Never used to be my favorite dog. But he is now my favorite dog. It was like a ‘Lassie’ moment, and I was Timmy,” Dagnino said.

For those not old enough to remember, “Lassie” was a famous collie that regularly saved the day on TV. The show ran for 19 seasons starting in 1954.

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